A Sun Without
by NiceIceEdward
Summary: He's always been there for her, during her darkest moments, now Bella has to be there for him.


**_**A/N: This is a little drabbly fic, I'm sorry it's so short, but I really haven't had time to work on full length fics for some time. I hope it will convey all it really needs to in few words, however. Let me know if you think it does. Thanks for reading**_**

It was a short note. Just a few hastily written words scribbled across the page in his all too familiar writing style.

Bells,

Billy's gone. Please come to La Push. Ness needs you. I need you.

Your Jacob

The Cullens still continued to move every few years, to keep up appearances. This schedule now included me. When Jake's message reached me, we were at the new house on Akamiski Island in James Bay, Canada. It was beyond rural, and it had been decided that we were ready for a break from humans.

I folded the note back up again and looked back out the window of the plane at the persistent and eternal rain. Edward put his hand on my arm, and when I looked at him, his eyes were black, troubled and compassionate. Renesmee and Jacob's marriage four years ago had finalized the relationship between the two men. The acceptance of its inevitability had brought a peace to my life that little else could have.

"We're nearly over the Sound, it won't be much longer."

"Just a short drive, 30 minutes from Port Angeles to La Push." I agreed softly.

"20, if I'm driving." Edward answered with a grin.

I tried to smile at his attempt to improve my dark mood, but the expression on his face told me I failed pretty miserably. He cupped my cheek for a moment, sighed unnecessarily, and then went back to reading the book in his right hand. He let me keep his left, for strength I supposed.

I felt the slight tilt as the plane began to land, and began pulling my bags together.

Edward kept his word. The car trip to La Push took only 20 minutes. I looked up at the slate grey sky, stealing the open space between the treetops lining the road. The rain seemed to be at its leisure, light misted drops had replaced the torrent we'd landed in.

A few moments more and we pulled up to a familiar garage next to a small, comfortable looking home. The Black house. Never had that name occured to me before now.

I stepped out of the passenger side of the rental car. My eyes were first drawn to the garage, because of the happier memories that were collected within its walls. Sadly, a glitter of metal caught my all too clear sight, and when I looked I saw the saddest thing I could imagine. Somehow, the abandoned wheel chair was a more poignant sign of the absence of Billy than anything else could have been.

I knew it had been shoved back there, because of being disposed of for a long time. Edward had had the prescience to buy Billy a motorized wheelchair, well, it was actually like a slow scooter. Billy expressed annoyance over its lack of speed on several occasions and said that he was losing all his youthful physique. It never failed to make Jake laugh aloud when Billy said it. I thought back, remembering when that had been. Christmas, the winter before Jake and Renesmee had finally been able to marry. It had been touchy at first, most everyone knew he was older than she was, but because he didn't look it, only a few had troubled them.

Of course, Quil hadn't lost the moment to jibe me during the wedding over our earlier days of confused feelings for each other. As my best friend and my beautiful daughter kissed following their vows, Quil motioned for my attention from the grooms side and whispered loudly "Ew, he kissed you, now he's kissing her." Naturally, everyone heard him including the bride and groom, which effectively ended their romantic moment, when they both burst into a deep, satisfied laughter.

I heard the door at the same time his smell struck me. I turned and my heart broke. There on the porch was, without a doubt, my Jacob.

Renesmee must have driven like a race car driver from her college, because she walked out right after him, and stood at his side holding his hand tightly in her own.

I wanted to say hello, catch up, but Jacob's look held me fast. His jaw was tightly clenched, his muscles were all tensed. He had his hands in his pockets and what I could see of his face was emotionless. We both wore dark, black tinted glasses, yet I still knew exactly the way his eyes looked behind them. I glided around the front of the car, and up the steps to him, taking no care to cover my speed for anyone's sake. As I reached him, his arms went out the way they had so many years ago to show me that he would make a perfect heater for me as I lay shivering perilously close to the edge of frostbite, on the eve of the battle with Victoria and the newborns.

I stepped into the waiting embrace and wrapped my arms gently around him, being careful not to hug him as tightly as I really wanted to.

"I can't believe it Jake, it just isn't the same place without him."

Whatever innerglue was holding my Jacob together, lost its cohesion at that moment. In a flood of frame-wracking, breath-shuddering sobs, Jacob Black slowly went to pieces.

My Jacob crumbled, and as if in commiseration, the clouds crashed and the rain began to pour down once more...


End file.
